First and foremost, the term 'position' refers to the order in which players are seated at the traditional or online poker table. Although many players tend to ignore the importance of the position factor, let it be known that position has crucial implications on a player's odds to either win or lose the game. When assessing your strengths and weaknesses in a certain game, besides the value of your cards, you should always take into consideration your position in relation to the button. In short, whatever move you ultimately choose to make, it should be based on the position factor as well.

The importance of position

A fully occupied poker table is typically broken into three sets of players. You have probably come across the following terms: Early Position, Middle Position and Late Position. The Early position is the least advantageous location of all. The reason behind such a statement is the fact that these players don't have any indication regarding the cards their opponents might hold. They haven't seen their opponents in action to give them any idea of what they should expect of them. Therefore, players seated in Early position are advised to avoid playing weak hands. After all, there are as many as nine other players seated at the table and you have no clue as to what awaits you. Try to limit yourself to playing only top quality hands. When in early position, a tight play is recommended.

The next set of poker players is referred to as Middle Position. These players are by far better off than the fellows seated in Early Position. The have already seen some of their opponents make moves and so they have at least a vague idea of what to expect. If no other player has raised, players in Middle position have no need to rely only on the strongest starting hands. This position is more advantageous than the previous one because there are less players left who haven't acted yet, so the chances of being raised are much lower.

The latest set of players is referred to as Late Position. Their advantage lies in the fact that they are required to act after having seen all their opponents make their moves. A player who is the very last to act enjoys the most major advantage: there is no risk of someone raising him. Players in Late position can afford to stay in the hand with a larger range of starting hands because they already know what they'll be facing in the next betting rounds. Therefore, when in Late position, a loose play is recommended.

Example: Texas Hold 'em

Lets say you are playing low limit Texas Hold 'em . There are 10 players seated at the table playing $4/$8 limit. The Small Blind pays $2. The Big Blind pays $4. The under-the-gun player now has to act. If this player has a hand like Q-10, it is best to fold. With 9 opponents still in the hand, there are pretty good chances that at least one of them will have a much stronger hand.

Now, give the same hand to a player in the cut-off position (the very last player to act). Let's say that all of his opponents (except the Blinds and the Button) decided to fold. Naturally, with so many players out of the game the odds that one of the remaining players is holding a strong hand are much smaller. Although there is still the Button player who might hold a relatively strong hand, the cut off player should definitely raise.

So, how did it go? Ahh, yeah: Position, Position,Position...